When it comes to having financial control, I think it’s way too easy to not take any accountability. Blaming the government or capitalism is an easy way to avoid looking at our own ability to manage money. Not to discount the effect that inflation, rising prices, and the constant social pressure to spend are having on our lives, but I certainly believe there’s more power within our financial control than we may think.
Since you’re not the Federal Reserve, you’re not going to be able to control the external factors that affect our economy. However, you hold the power to secure your financial future with your mindset and behaviors. The way you think about money and your behaviors around it have a lot of influence over your financial success.
I’ve laid out what is and isn’t in our financial control. Sometimes we need to know exactly what to let go of and what to embrace in order to get grounded and start making changes.
What’s Not In My Financial Control?
The way I see it, not much. It’s easy to narrow our focus on all the things happening around us or to us, and when that’s what we focus on, that’s what we see. If we zoom out, we might find that these factors not in our financial control aren’t as big as we thought.
The Economy
It’s scary to think of all the elements not in our control. Regardless of who’s in office or what’s going on in the world, there may be some lingering anxiety about factors out of our control. Things like interest rates and inflation can have a huge impact on our lives, yet they’re out of our hands. They influence other financial aspects in our lives like grocery and gas prices that put a burden on our wallets.
Other People’s Opinions
Other people’s opinions, whether we care to hear them or not, can influence the decisions we make, often to our detriment. Trying to give off the impression of wealth with expensive clothes, luxury cars, fancy vacations is the downfall of many. Buying these things when you can’t afford them harms you, and for what? The approval of idiots who only care about you if you project wealth? You may need some new friends if that’s the case.
What You See On Social Media
What you see on social media is most likely a lie. Seeing other people, whether you know them personally or not, have nice things or take nice trips can make you feel left out, left behind, or jealous. But you don’t know the full story. Maybe they’re going into debt for these things. Maybe a family member paid for it. Maybe they worked and sacrificed and saved for ages to afford it. It benefits you in no way to make assumptions and feel bad about yourself for not having those same experiences because you simply don’t know how they got there. Focus on yourself.
The Job Market
The job market could have a real impact on your financial success. Maybe you’re a recent college grad who can’t find a job in your field and are making less than you would in your desired industry. Or maybe you’re stuck at a job that doesn’t pay you much, but you’re having a hard time finding a new one to increase your income. Feeling stuck sucks, it’s something I’ve personally dealt with many times, but you will come out the other side of it.
The Passage of Time
Nothing stops time from passing which can be stressful if you feel like you’re already behind. Maybe you wish you started sooner, but don’t let that stop you from starting now. The time will pass anyway, so why not use it to pay off your debt, save for your dream house or your kids’ college, fund your retirement, or literally anything else you can think of.
What’s In My Financial Control?
Okay, but what can I actually control? Good question. A fuck-ton. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no expert here, but I think there’s more in your financial control than out of it. While the external factors may be systemic, uncontrollable, and seemingly insurmountable, focusing on them gets you nowhere. Turning your attention inward to tune into the financial issues at the root of your problems will fix them and prevent them from reoccurring.
Money Mindset
First things first is your outlook on money. This says a lot about how successful you’ll be in reaching your financial goals (or if you even have any). Even if it needs improvement, you can improve your relationship with money. If you have the mindset that you need to live everyday like there’s no tomorrow, you may be reckless with your money and rack up debt or fail to invest for the future. Shifting your mindset will help you find balance. Your bank account will thank you.
Being Intentional
Being intentional with your money really sets the tone for your financial choices. Focusing on financial intentions allows you to see the bigger picture, set goals, and make money mooooves (🐄💸). This includes planning for expenses, setting aside money for savings and investments (bonus points if you automate this), and most importantly, budgeting. ⬇️
Budgeting
My favorite thing ever is my budget. It’s the easiest way to have control over your finances because you literally are in charge of sending your money where it needs to go. With a budget, you allocate money to paying off debts, savings, needs, and wants. Starting a budget actually got a huge weight off my shoulders because I didn’t have to guess if I would have enough money to pay my bills; I made sure there was enough.
Managing Your Spending Habits
Obviously we can’t control the fact that we have needs that require us to spend money. But when it comes to our wants, we are in full control. Going out to eat every day of your life is a choice. Buying a car you can’t afford is a choice. Paying for expensive workout classes when you can exercise at home for free is a choice (I’m 100% calling myself out here. These are all things I’ve done). Impulsive spending habits may also be sabotaging your progress, which is why intention is so important to focus on.
Setting Financial Boundaries
I wrote about this in more detail in my post How to Create and Maintain Financial Boundaries. The goal here is to set boundaries with your money to support yourself in your weaker areas to help you reach your goals. It’s all about holding yourself accountable and not letting you or anyone else get in the way of your financial success.
Paying Off Debt
I personally believe everyone has the responsibility to pay off their debt. You took it out and should pay it back. Whether it’s student loans or a car or credit cards, paying off this debt is not only an obligation, but it relieves the stress of having a large financial cloud of doom looming over you. The method you use (either snowball or avalanche, or some combination) is up to you.
Increasing Your Income
There are a variety of ways you can increase your income, allowing you to reach your financial goals faster. You can always start by trying to negotiate a raise at your current job. Another way to increase your income is by switching jobs. Job switchers see a median pay increase of around 10% (Yahoo Finance). If you can’t get a raise or switch jobs, you can also pick up a second job or side hustle.
Living Within Your Means
Being on a budget is a great start to living within your means and having financial control. Be sure to also look out for any unnecessary spending that may cause you to go over budget or could be allocated elsewhere to help you make the most of your money. Be careful with credit cards as well. They make it very easy to overspend. If you find yourself slipping down the slope into a pit of credit card debt, you may not be a credit card person.
Investing In Your Retirement
The sooner the better on this. I have not made much progress with this yet and it’s one of my financial goals for this year. There are many ways to invest. You may be able to invest in a 401(k) through your employer (sometimes they even offer to match your contribution up to a certain percentage) or on your own with a traditional IRA or Roth IRA. I recommend looking into what would work best for you. There are a ton of resources out there, including this one on types of investment accounts.
Saving for Emergencies
Building up an emergency fund is essential to break the cycle of never having enough money. Something comes up, you have to empty your bank account to deal with it, and you feel like you’ve been set back. The recommended amount is around 3-6 months of expenses, but you may need more depending on your circumstances. I’m currently building up my emergency fund (halfway there!!) and I keep it in a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) so it can accumulate more interest as it sits there.
Paying Bills On Time
Kinda a no-brainer, but I know there are those procrastinators out there that put it off or simply forget. Letting your bills pile up is stressful; they don’t go away if you ignore them. Tackle them as soon as you can. If you’re the forgetful type, put your bills on auto-pay so you don’t have to worry about remembering.
Learning How to Manage Your Money
We’re not born with this knowledge, otherwise a lot more of us would be millionaires right now. Many of us were also not taught these things in school or by our parents (who probably passed down their bad money management skills to you in the first place). But we have the power and ability to learn for ourselves and develop the skills to gain financial control. Research terms you’re unfamiliar with, read books and blogs (like this one), listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos – the knowledge is out there and ripe for the picking!
Having Patience With Yourself
No progress happens overnight. There will be setbacks, you will need to make sacrifices, you’ll have to remind yourself of your why. Your goals and your vision for your future will help drive you when things get tough. Maybe you spend too much on going out one month or your car needs repairs and you burn through your savings; don’t get discouraged. You will recover and you will flourish.
Setting Financial Goals
Your financial goals are the basis for your financial journey. Are you trying to pay off debt? Save for a house? Invest in retirement? All of the above? Outlining what it is you want to achieve will help you organize your money in the most productive way. Make sure these goals are quantifiable. Don’t just say you want to save money. How much and in what timeframe?
Celebrating Your Financial Wins
Celebrating your financial victories has a huge impact on keeping you motivated and focused on continuing your progress. The Importance of Celebrating Your Financial Wins outlines ways you can celebrate your successes meaningfully and with intention. All of your wins are worth celebrating and noting. It’s great to be able to track just how far you’ve come.
Give Yourself Some Credit
Clearly, we have a lot to work with when we give ourselves the chance. We are so capable when we set our minds to it. Your financial success is your personal responsibility. Don’t convince yourself (or let anyone else) you’re incapable of making changes to positively affect your financial situation. Once I realized I could control where my money goes, I became INVINCIBLE. ✨